


Anything For Friendship

by ghostmateria



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Kukaku's Arm, soul society - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-05-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 17:23:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3858724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostmateria/pseuds/ghostmateria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When asked about how she lost her right arm, Kukaku Shiba will often be evasive. At times she'll tell outlandish stories that couldn't possibly true. So what is the true story behind the firework's technician's lost arm?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: An untold story

**Author's Note:**

> [This started as a drabble for my rp blog on Tumblr and then evolved into a much bigger thing! Characters and contextual world is not my own. All credit to Tite Kubo. Story is my own work.]

Slouched amongst a pile of cushions on the floor, the woman gazed into the flames, forest-green eyes flecked with gold highlights from the fire. She was wrapped in her favourite ivory travelling cloak, long black hair caught up haphazardly in a white headscarf before cascading down her back. A tray holding a bottle of sake and a long smoking pipe lay to one side.

Left arm propped on one bent knee, her other long slim leg stretched towards the warmth of the flames, the woman was almost motionless. Sipping sake from a small cup she let her mind wander, the memories of more than four centuries swirling through her mind. Hearing a noise she looked up, and gave a distracted smile to the man who entered the room before turning her attention back to the dancing flames.

"Ganju, I didn't think you'd be home tonight. There's another glass around here somewhere if you want to join me."

"Sure Sis." Her younger brother rummaged around at the end of the room. Returning with a glass he sat down next to her, fidgeting to get comfortable. Pouring himself a drink he hesitated before asking quietly, "Everything all right?".

Kūkaku didn't look at him, instead closing her eyes a moment to think, "Did you know today is the anniversary of me losing my right arm?"

Ganju froze, sake glass held mid way to his lips. His sister never talked about this to him, "Ah, no sorry. You've never said."

Opening her eyes and turning to look at her brother, the fireworks expert gave a soft smile, "Well maybe it's time you knew the truth. The real story about what happened that day."

She threw back the rest of her drink and placed the empty glass on the tray. Picking up her pipe she ignited it with a murmured spell and pulled in a deep lungful of smoke, "I've lost track of the exact years. Maybe 450? But I remember nearly every detail…"


	2. Under the Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kūkaku and her childhood friend begin an untold adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This is set more than 400 years before the start of the Bleach manga - ages and timelines have been estimated based on my own understanding of the Bleach universe and might not be perfect. This is a fan made work, the characters and Bleach story is not my own.]

"Kaien I'm going out with Yoru, can you tell mother I won't be back until dinner?"

Her brother looked up from his studies, a bored expression on his face, "Sure Kū, but don't get into any trouble ok? I'll be the one who gets the blame."

"We're just going down to the stream idiot. We'll be fine," She snapped at him poking out her tongue before grabbing her leather satchel and dashing out the door.

Appearing to be about 13, the 100 year old girl strode across the grounds of her family's estate with the confidence of a woman twice her age. It was a beautiful summers day, a light breeze taking off the worst of the heat. A perfect day for an adventure, Kūkaku thought to herself.

Reaching the compound gate she waited for the guards to push open the huge gates impatiently, ignoring their sidelong glances. Most of the Shiba family members and retainers disapproved of their clan's wild princess, desiring her to behave more ladylike. The exception to this were her tutor twins Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko, her brother and her uncle Isshin. The hot headed noble born girl resented that her older brother Kaien got to behave exactly how he wanted. She particularly hated the formal dresses her mother forced her to wear for official events, and had resorted to setting a number of them on fire in protest.

Today Kūkaku was dressed in her own idea of suitable clothing. She wore bright red tights under a white halter-neck summer dress which came up to her knees. As usual she didn't wear shoes, enjoying the feel of the rough pavement on her bare feet. Her long black hair was held off her face by a white silk headband. Kūkaku's outlandish outfit was completed by the present her brother had given her for her 100th birthday; a steel katana with a pretty pale orange hilt. It was a small weapon by adult standards, but the young girl had to wear it as someone would a long-sword, strapped to her back so that she could reach behind with her right hand and grab the hilt.

As soon as the gates were open a black and purple streak flashed toward her and colliding with her hard. Tumbling backwards Kūkaku laughed, grappled her assailant and flipped them over her head so that they both landed sprawling on the pavement. Giggling, the two girls regained their feet and embraced.

"Dammit Yoru I'm going to have bruises from that!" Kūkaku complained to her best friend.

The guards had reacted to the attack, but were now returned to their positions either side of the gate, staring at the other girl with equal disapproval to that they gave their own mistress.

"Ha! Kū you're just too slow as always. If you'd been paying attention you could have dodged my attack!"

Yoruichi, the princess of the Shihoin clan, was the same age as Kūkaku and in many ways even more wild than her Shiba friend. She was wearing a thigh length orange summer dress and also had bare feet. Her purple hair was cropped into a cute pixie cut, the fringe held out of her eyes with a butterfly hair-clip which had been a gift from Kūkaku. In the opinion of many, the pair were an embarrassment to their noble families. Not that the girls cared what people thought.

Yoruichi grabbed Kūkaku's right hand and after making rude faces at the guards, the girls ran off down the road together. Reaching the lush forest situated within the noble district of Seireitei, the girls stopped running and stood catching their breath.

Looking up at her friend, a big grin on her face, Kūkaku asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? It's not too late to change your mind!"

Laughing, the purple haired girl nodded, "Of course! Like I'd let you go alone and have all the fun." Turning serious Yoruichi frowned, "It's not going to be easy to sneak out though, I checked the Shihoin books and there are stealth force patrolling the boundaries of these woods."

A mischievous glint in her green eyes, Kūkaku reached into her satchel, drawing out two large firecrackers to shower her friend, "Well they'll be a bit distracted won't they? Lets go!"

Giggling they ran lightly through the forest towards the boundary between Seireitei and Rukongai. After about half an hour of moving through the trees they slowed to a quiet stalk, knowing they were close. Reaching the tree line the girls looked out over the cleared area roughly 300 paces across, which allowed space for the great wall protecting the inner circle of Soul Society to drop down. As there were no threats of war, the wall was not there and the girls could see dark woods continuing beyond the grassed area, and in the distance smoke from the nearest town.

Although there was nobody in sight, Yoruichi's information had warned them of the Gotei 13 squad 2 members patrolling the open space. Whispering close to her best friends ear, Kūkaku explained her plan, "I'll set these up 30 paces apart on different fuse lengths. You move 100 paces that way. After I've lit the second one I'll have enough time to join you. Then run across when the explosives fire and the patrol is distracted."

The purple haired girl nodded, grinning widely at the crazy plan. They weren't particularly fearful as it wasn't against the law for them to leave Seireitei, just against their families wishes.

As her friend walked quietly off, Kūkaku admired her ability to move so silently. Yoruichi had always been the stealthy one. Pulling the two firecrackers out of her satchel she smiled. Her style was as far from stealthy as you could get. She buried the first explosive into the dirt, not caring at how grimy her hands and clothes were getting. Young features fixed in a serious scowl as she took care to leave a long fuse that would give her exactly enough time to place the second firework, light it and reach her friend.

Double checking her work she glanced around and then drew her katana from her back with her right hand. Striking her left fingers along the blade Kūkaku whispered a kido spell under her breath and directed the resulting sparks to land on the fuse, igniting it. Moving as swiftly and quietly as possible she ran 30 paces onwards and quickly buried the second firecracker. Her hands moved faster now, adrenaline boosting her confidence. As she measured out the fuse line carefully, she kept counting steadily in her head. The timing had to be perfect or she could get hurt buy either of her explosives. Striking sparks again and igniting the second fuse she grinned and ran to join her friend. At the agreed distance she halted as Yoruichi dropped out of a tree and landed beside her.

Green eyes met gold for a moment, both shining from the excitement, "We've only got a few seconds left! Get ready!"

Moving quickly to the edge of the clearing they crouched down and made ready to run. It was five agonisingly long heartbeats before twin explosions filled the air. The blasts emanating outwards to send hot air rushing past the pair. Hesitating for a split second the girls made their reckless dash across the cleared area, running as hard and fast as they could.

Back at the forest edge five figures dressed in black approached the source of the explosions carefully with weapons drawn. Not finding any signs of an enemy the leader frowned and looked down at the smoking crater in front of him, "This could be an attack. Signal for the wall to drop and send word to the Captain."

The girls had made it across the cleared area and were catching their breath inside thick undergrowth of the next set of woods.

Panting Yoruichi threw her arms around Kūkaku, pulling them both down to the grass laughing, "Ah that was amazing Kū! I bet your brother would be proud of you for that."

Kūkaku chuckled at this, "Probably not. They were his fireworks that I took!"

The girls' celebrations were interrupted by the sound of alarms ringing from behind them. Standing quickly the girls watched as the enormous walls of Seireitei fell booming to fill the clearing they'd just crossed. Stunned to silence the teens turned to give each other wide eyed looks, all mirth gone.

"Yoru you don't think we did that did you?" Kūkaku whispered, suddenly considering that setting off explosives so close to the cities defences might upset some people.

Yoruichi looking at the wall, chewing her bottom lip in thought. A determined look on her face she reached out and took Kūkaku's hand. "Whatever the reason. There's no going back that way. We'll have to find one of the gates. But first let's explore!"

Young and full of adventurous energy the noble born girls started laughing again and set off deeper into the unfamiliar forest, hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [TBC - Hope you enjoyed this! I have the plot all set out so it's just a matter of me sitting down to work on the next chapter. Please review and comment!]


	3. Same Realm Different World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally past the wall of Seireitei, Kūkaku and her friend Yoruichi set out to explore Rukongai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw's: violence, blood, gore, violence against children (only a little of this stuff at the end - next chapter will be worse)

They had been battling with the tangled undergrowth or the forest for over an hour. The air was stifling under the trees, swarms of midges clouding the air. Initially chatting and laughing as they went, the two noble-born girls had been reduced to a surly silence as they slipped and stumbled over the muddy forest floor.

Both of them had scratches across their arms and legs, and Yoruichi had earned a scratch on her left cheek from a swinging branch. Bare feet caked with mud, the teenager's appearances were in a sorry state. Kūkaku's dress was barely recognisable as having been white, completely covered in dust and mud. The red tights had been ripped on the right leg and her long black hair was full of twigs and leaves.

Swinging her katana angrily at a cluster of vines Kūkaku swore under her breath, earning an amused snort from her friend, breaking a long silence, "Kū you're already talking like someone from Rukongai."

"As far as I can tell, nobody lives in this hell hole. Maybe the whole district is one big forest and we'll be trapped out here alone forever." She grumbled, holding a branch out of the way for Yoruichi to step past.

To the girl's relief, Kūkaku's hypothesis proved false after another fifty paces, when the trees and undergrowth gave way suddenly. Standing at the edge of the forest, breathing in the fresh air hungrily, the friends looked out over a landscape alien to their eyes. They had emerged at the the top of a large hill which sloped down into a valley covered in a patchwork of farmland. At the far end of the valley was clustered a number of buildings, smoke hanging over them like a shroud.

"Did you know there were farms out here?" Kūkaku asked, eyes wide as she took in the unfamiliar landscape.

Shaking her head, Yoruichi pointed to the settlement, "Someone there might be able to give us directions to the gate.

Much to both girl's disgust, a dirt road emerged out of the forest only 100 paces to their right, running down the hill towards the town.

Scowling, Yoruichi wiped her forehead, smearing a trail of mud and dirt in the process, "Damn we were probably only a short distance from that road the whole time."

Looking at the Shihoin girl, Kūkaku grinned, "You're a mess Yoru, and I suppose I look just as bad."

"Well at least we will be less likely to be robbed now we look like wild forest beasts," Yoruichi laughed as she reached out to pull a large twig from Kūkaku's hair.

Looping her arm over Yoruichi's shoulders Kūkaku smiled sweetly, "C'mon then wildcat, let's go meet the locals."

Too young and energetic to have their mood brought down for long, the pall of the forest was shrugged off quickly. They walked down the road, pointing out all the unusual sights to each other with laughter and exclamations. Although a few worn-out souls were working in the fields as the girls passed, nobody spoke to them, simply staring with mistrust in their tired eyes. Used to being held at a certain distance by servants the girl's were unconcerned and somewhat oblivious to the reaction they were receiving.

Looking up at the sky Yoruichi groaned and rubbed her tummy, "I'm starving, any chance you brought food?"

The sun was starting to reach its zenith in the sky and neither had eaten since morning. Although young, they both had very high spiritual pressure and were used to having access to food whenever they needed it. Reaching into her satchel Kūkaku drew out two big red apples, tossing one to her friend.

Taking a bite of the fruit Yoruichi spoke with her mouth full, "Did you bring anything else?"

"Nope sorry, I didn't want anyone to get suspicious of me taking enough food for a day." Kūkaku had wondered how long it would take her always hungry friend to complain about meals. Smiling, she wiped apple juice from her mouth with the back of her hand, "I did bring some Kan so we can buy food in this town."

They continued on through the rural landscape, stopping only once when an unfortunate snake decided to slither across the road. Kūkaku, irrationally frightened of the legless creatures, had screamed and jumped behind her friend. The purple haired girl, laughing at the Kūkaku's antics, had calmly removed the reptile from their path with a long stick.

"What are you going to do if you have to fight a hollow that looks like a snake?" Yoruichi brought up the old argument between the pair.

Slapping her friend playfully on the arm Kūkaku grinned sheepishly. "I'm sure they'll teach us how to deal with phobias at the academy."

Nodding, the Shihoin girl thought about the anticipated event that would happen in only a fortnight. "I hope we get to be in the same classes."

"Of course we will. I'll demand it." There was no question in Kūkaku's mind that a noble daughter would have such authority. "But after we graduate we will be separated."

"No, if you join Division 2, they are always involved with the stealth corps and when I'm made captain I can name you my lieutenant!" Yoruichi had of course had this argument with her friend many a time, bound by family tradition to govern the stealth corps and Division 2 of the Gotei 13.

A small sad smile graced Kūkaku's young face and she shook her head. "You know stealth is not my thing. Besides I talked to Shunsui-san at the last nobles council, and he said he would make a place for me in the 8th Division." She'd always admired the funny old man from the Kyoraku clan, a lesser noble family with ties to her own.

Their planning for the future was cut short as the girls finally reached the outskirts of the settlement. Using shabby to describe the collection of derelict buildings would be an understatement. Disconcerted by their surroundings, the girls drew closer to each other and walked hand in hand down the dirt road.

There was barely anyone around, only scattered individuals hurrying past as if trying to complete and errand without notice. The tense atmosphere was apparent to even the inexperienced nobles as they wandered towards the town centre.

Passing a building that looked as if it would collapse any moment, a voice called out to the girls. "You should go home."

Kūkaku stopped and eyed the man sitting on a chair out the front. He was a giant, muscular and imposing with two enormous hatchets slung from each hip. Yoruichi tried to drag her friend away, but the Shiba princess stepped closer.

With all the authority she could muster, the slight girl propped her hands on her hips. "We only just arrived, by would we go home? And what business is it of yours?"

The giant rubbed his chin, a gesture he hoped would make him look wise and thoughtful. "Because this is no place for two noble-born children to be playing."

"We aren't nobles." Kūkaku was a little too quick to retort, the panic of discovery adding an edge to her voice. "We are... Farm girls from the next village over."

The big man gave her a blank stare before shrugging, placing a hand on the pommel of one of his weapons and closing his eyes. As he was sitting stone still, the girls thought he had fallen asleep and began to back away. Just before they turned to leave he opened one eye and fixed it on the pair. "You find yourselves in trouble, just remember Jidanbō tried to warn you." And with that cryptic message, he closed his eye and fell asleep.

Shaken by their encounter with the strange man, Kūkaku and Yoruichi continued on in silence for a while. Almost ready to suggest they take his advice, Kūkaku spied a group gathered up ahead. Quickening her pace she dragged Yoruichi along, thinking there might be a food stall. Reaching the crowd the girls slowed at the sound of fighting. They pushed carefully past people until, standing at the edge of a circular open space, they could see two men wrestling and punching each other.

Familiar with sparring and training, they had never seen a real fight before. The girls watched with morbid fascination as the larger of the two overpowered his opponent, then proceeded to pound him in the face with a soon bloodied fist. The beating continued long after the body went limp, the defeated man's face mangled and broken. Standing, the victor reached down and relieved the prone form of a small leather bag clinking with coins. He then turned and stalked through the dispersing crowd.

The noble girls were in shock, standing almost huddled together, staring at the bloody heap before them. Shaking, Yoruichi slowly walked up and looked closely at his chest. "He's not breathing. Kū I think... I think he's dead." The words came as a whisper. For all their talk of joining the academy and being shinigami, neither of the young souls had ever witnessed death before.

Reaching out for her friends hand, Kūkaku pulled her away from the body. "Come away Yoru. We should leave this place."

At that moment a large heavy hand rested on her shoulder. Spinning in surprise, reflexively reaching for the hilt of her sword, Kūkaku glared at the filthy man who'd dared touch her. The Shihoin girl moved up beside her, fists clenched, and began to gather spiritual power to enhance her strength.

"Eh wha we got here?" The man leered at them, and gave a sinister grin, revealing blackened and uneven teeth. "Coupla babby shinigami hey? Who knew they make em so cute."

Heart racing, Kūkaku began to draw her weapon, realising perhaps too late that she had led her friend to a dangerous place. Before she could pull the Katana from its strapping on her back, a heavy blow struck her on the back of the head. Vision swimming with red and white spots, she dimly registered Yoruichi's screams before fading into blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said not overly violent, but it's a prelude to what they will face in the next chapter. The girls are worlds away from what they know. Please comment!


End file.
